MIGRATING WINDOWS GRID HOW TO
MIGRATING WINDOWS GRID INSTALL
MIGRATING WINDOWS GRID DRIVERS
MIGRATING WINDOWS GRID SOFTWARE
MIGRATING WINDOWS GRID PC

You could try messing around with sysprep, Acronis Universal Restore, or another method that will allow your Windows installation to boot on another computer.

MIGRATING WINDOWS GRID INSTALL

You Should Probably Do a Clean Install Instead If that OEM copy of Windows came preinstalled on a computer, Microsoft definitely won’t let you re-activate it. Give it a try and see if it works for you. However, you may be able to re-activate it using Microsoft’s “Phone Activation”, designed for those without internet access. if you purchased your own OEM (or “system builder”) copy of Windows, though, the license technically doesn’t allow you to move it to a new PC.

If you have a retail copy (or “full version”) of Windows, you’ll only need to re-input your activation key. This will de-activate Windows, and you’ll have to go through the Windows activation process again after doing so.

MIGRATING WINDOWS GRID DRIVERS

Essentially, it replaces the hardware abstraction layer (HAL) and hard disk controller drivers in an existing Windows installation. For example, Acronis offers a tool called Acronis Universal Restore designed to be used with the Acronis True Image disk-imaging software. Other disk imaging tools have attempted to serve this purpose, too. It can work, but since Microsoft doesn’t support this, there are many things things could go wrong if you try to do this at home. Some enthusiasts have tried using “sysprep /generalize” on a Windows installation before attempting to move it to a new PC. Moving or copying a Windows image to a different computer without running sysprep /generalize is not supported.”

The next time you boot the Windows image, the specialize configuration pass runs… Any method of moving a Windows image to a new computer, either through imaging, hard disk duplication, or other method, must be prepared with the sysprep /generalize command. The sysprep /generalize command removes unique information from your Windows installation, which enables you to reuse that image on different computers. “If you intend to transfer a Windows image to a different computer, you must run sysprep /generalize, even if the computer has the same hardware configuration. It isn’t designed for average Windows users or enthusiasts, though, and it won’t run at all on an upgraded copy of Windows–only one that was clean installed.

MIGRATING WINDOWS GRID SOFTWARE

An organization might use this method to deploy a Windows image with various settings and software installed on all its PCs, or a computer manufacturer might use this trick to install its customized version of Windows on its computers before selling them.

MIGRATING WINDOWS GRID PC

It’s designed for large organizations and PC manufacturers, giving them a way to create a Windows image and then duplicate, or deploy, it on a variety of different PCs. Microsoft makes a “System Preparation,” or “ sysprep,” tool for this very purpose. it requires a bit more tweaking, isn’t guaranteed to work, and generally isn’t supported by Microsoft. The Result: Moving a Windows Installation Is ComplicatedĪll that said, moving a Windows installation to another computer is possible…in some cases. Thankfully, you can just re-enter your activation key. The Windows activation process is designed to make sure you only install that copy of Windows on one PC at a time, so changing a computer’s motherboard–or even some other bits of internal hardware–will result in the Windows system becoming deactivated. If you purchase a retail copy of Windows and install it yourself, things aren’t so bad. These preinstalled versions of Windows are OEM (“original equipment manufacturer”) copies, and are designed to be locked to the hardware they were originally installed on. Microsoft doesn’t want you to be able to move those OEM copies of Windows to another computer. Most people get Windows preinstalled on computers they purchase. Windows activation is another hurdle in the process. RELATED: How Does Windows Activation Work? The Licensing Problem: Windows Activation

MIGRATING WINDOWS GRID HOW TO

When Windows boots on different hardware, it doesn’t know how to handle that hardware and won’t boot properly. The drivers for the storage controller, which allows the motherboard to communicate with the hard disk, are particularly important. That’s because when you install Windows on a computer, it sets itself up with drivers specific to that computer’s motherboard and chipset. You may see an error about problems with the “hardware abstraction layer” or “hal.dll”, or it may even blue-screen during the boot process. If you actually try moving a Windows drive to another computer and booting from it–or restoring a Windows system image backup on different hardware–it usually won’t boot properly. RELATED: 8 Backup Tools Explained for Windows 7 and 8

Migrating windows grid